Stark County proved why it is one of the most prolific scoring teams in the state as the Rebels manhandled Flanagan-Cornell-Woodland 50-6 in a Class 1A first-round football playoff game Friday night.

The Rebels came into the contest averaging a shade more than 45 points a game. Stark County’s defense was holding their opponents to just 16 points a game. Kody Appel was held in check, but still managed to gain 122 yards.

FCW head coach Troy Kaupp insisted that wasn’t the only reason the Falcons lost.

“Kody went down that first drive and got beat up on the ankle a bit, kind of made him slow down a bit the rest of the game,” Kaupp said.

The Rebels (9-1) jumped on the Falcons for 21 first quarter points and FCW could not recover.

“We knew when we got the draw, Stark County is a fine ball club,” Kaupp said. “We kind of shot ourselves in the foot in the first half.”

Stark County had excellent field position for its first three scores. The Rebels only needed five plays to score 1:25 into the opening quarter. The big play was a 37-yard gallop by Colton Senders. Kyle Gehrt split the uprights for a 7-0 lead.

The Falcons (6-4) started at their own 19, but failed to move the ball. A punt return Joe Charvat of 35 yards gave the ball to the Rebels at the Falcon 37 yard line.

Quarterback Ryne Daum found Thorin Hicks for a touchdown on the first play. Gehrt kicked the extra point giving the Rebels a 14-0 lead.

“We gave them some easy scores, ball kept rolling and snowballed on us,” Kaupp said.

The Rebels scored with just 34 second remaining in the opening stanza. The drive covered 89 yards and was aided by two costly Falcon penalties — the second giving the Rebels the ball on the 11 yard line.

Daum broke through the line untouched making the score 21-0.

Starting the second quarter the FCW offense floundered, eventually punting. The Falcons sustained another drive until they punted. Again, it was Charvat who broke free bringing the ball to the Falcon 34.

After a 6-yard run by Senders, his number was called from the 28 and scampered in for the touchdown.

The Rebels added a 40-yard field goal by Gehrt as time expired in the first half for a 31-0 lead.

FCW put together its best drive of the night after taking the second half kick back to the 44 yard line. Appel and Austin Dutko carried the ball every time, except for a 2-yard run by Ruben Deleon.

Page 2 of 2 - Appel had rushes of 6, 7, 5, and 13 yards, while Dutko had rushes of 4, 2, and 9 yards. The last rush by Dutko put the ball of the Rebels’ three. Appel went in for the TD from there. The Falcons tried for the two-point conversion but came up inches short.

“That second half we came out and made a drive and we scored, but they can score at will,” commented Kaupp, they had an answer for our wish-bone and they stopped the run.”

The Rebels added a touchdown in the third quarter on an 18-yard sprint by Senders.

Stark County scored in the fourth quarter on a Daum-to-Hicks scoring strike. That made the score 44-6.

The Falcons would go three and out after punting to the Rebels 48 yard line. Stark County would keep it on the ground, taking only five plays to make the final 50-6 with 5:17 remaining.

Appel, despite the ankle injury, managed to carry the ball 26 times, but had trouble keeping his footing on the slick grass. Dutko finished with 27 yards on 12 carries. Sophomore quarterback Keegan Bertsche was 3 of 8 for 19 yards passing on the night.

On the other side of the ball, Senders had a game high 194 yards on 18 carries. Daum was 8 of 13 for 125 yards and was picked off once.